Amaranthaceae FAMILY

Alternanthera littoralis

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Alternanthera littoralis is a prostrate creeping herb with stems up to 10 metres long that root at the nodes[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]., of coastal sands down to high water mark, recorded from the West African coast from Senegal to S Nigeria, and on to Angola, and also on the Atlantic Coast of S America[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/ ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine. It is sometimes used to bind sandy soils[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeWest tropical Africa - Senegal to Cameroon, south to northern Angola. S. America - eastern Brazil.

HabitatCoastal sands down to the high-water mark; it is also found on the tops of coastal sand dunes where it helps to bind them with its long stolons[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].